1/ Weather shelters on platforms 1 and 4 - these not to be provided until Sept. 2018 or later

2/ Traffic management on Station Approach - the situation is not understood. It will be investigated. [This is whereby High Point Village security aggressively photograph all drivers entering the private road leading to the platform 4 entrance in order to turn round, or pick up / drop off passengers, and then send the drivers a demand for a huge fine for trespass. There is no turning circle at the station entrance. This scam has been going on for years - CJB.]

3/ The missing station name at the upper foyer was not known to be missing. The area manager is looking into this. [It was taken down many years ago and never replaced - CJB.]

4/ CIS systems are to be reviewed and 'improved' by Crossrail in the summer. [Currently the signage states that local trains only use platforms 4 and 3. It is still not acknowledged that this is confusing when services use ALL platforms including 2 and 1 - as they do at weekends and in the evenings - CJB.]

5/ The defective ticket machines are to be replaced in the summer. [Currently they are frequently out-of-order, signs about not accepting cash are missing; card only payment discriminates against youngsters who do not have a card and/or tourists whose cards do not work - CJB.]

No response was made to other issues raised such as:

6/ The general squalor of the station site which is still a building site with no signs of any rebuilding; and there not being any plans or timetables in the public domain for the rebuilding.

7/ Trains suddenly switching platforms say from 3 to 1 or 4 to 2 with less than a minute's notice. Then drivers will not wait for intending passengers to run over the bridges. This is blatant discrimination against the elderly and infirm.

TfL has recently taken over managing Hayes & Harlington Station - well the still demolished ruins of it anyway. There seems to be little progress in actually re-building it.

AND the nightmare scam pertains of cars, cabs, lorries, even the police STILL being photographed and fined by High Point Village management. I understand that the station has been 'blacked' by the black cabs at Heathrow due to the aggression of security staff photographing cabs making pick-ups and drop-offs at the StayCity Hotel.

So I wonder if you could raise the issues of the station with TfL management, such as:

1/ When is the new station going to be re-built, incl. installing lifts? The general squalor of the station site is still a building site with no signs of any rebuilding; and there not being any plans or timetables in the public domain for the rebuilding. The Station is still inaccessible to the disabled or wheel-chair users.

2/ When is the fiasco regarding parking and turning circles in Station Parade going to be resolved? Apparently the situation is not understood by TfL.

This is whereby High Point Village security aggressively photograph all drivers and registration plates entering the private road - Station Approach - leading to the platform 4 entrance in order to turn round, or pick up / drop off passengers, and then send the respective drivers a demand for a huge fine for trespass. There is no turning circle at the station entrance. This scam has been going on for years. This is unlawful discrimination against the elderly and infirm, to say nothing of families with children.

3/ When are inclement weather shelters going to be provided on platforms 4 and 1? Apparently they are not to be provided until Sept. 2018 or later. WE NEED THEM NOW.

4/ When is the station name going to be re-installed at the upper foyer entrance? TfL claim that the missing station name at the upper foyer was not known to be missing. The area manager is apparently looking into this. It was taken down many years ago and never replaced. It does not bode well for the management of the station if the TfL area manager did not know that it was even missing.

5/ When is proper signage and CIS displays going to be installed regarding platforms and trains, esp. at weekends when trains can use ALL platforms - but passengers frequently wait on the wrong platforms?

Apparently the CIS systems are to be reviewed and 'improved' by Crossrail in the summer - why not now?

Currently the signage states that local trains only use platforms 4 and 3. It is still not acknowledged that this is confusing when services use ALL platforms including 2 and 1 - as they do at weekends and in the evenings.

6/ When are the ticket machines in the upper foyer going to be properly repaired - unwitting tourists try to pay cash esp. for the Heathrow Connect to Heathrow - there are no signs now stating that cash is not accepted?

Apparently the long defective ticket machines are to be replaced in the summer. Currently they are frequently out-of-order, signs about not accepting cash are missing; card only payment discriminates against youngsters who do not have a card and/or tourists whose cards do not work.

7/ Arriving trains are suddenly being switched from platforms, say from 3 to 1 or 4 to 2, with less than a minute's notice. Then drivers will not wait for intending passengers to run over the bridges. This is blatant discrimination against the elderly and infirm.

Who managed the station before TfL? Was it NR or GWR? Surely there would have been an agreement that whoever had started the works would finish them?

The work was always going to be done by NR - demolition and complete rebuilding is not a tenant's responsibility! The have promised TfL it will be finished "in time" - as was reported to the TfL board last month:

Quote

4.21 In the West, Network Rail continues to progress the rebuilding works covering the area out to Hayes and Harlington and is planning to complete the upgrade and rebuilding of stations in the West by December 2019.

Who managed the station before TfL? Was it NR or GWR? Surely there would have been an agreement that whoever had started the works would finish them?

The work was always going to be done by NR - demolition and complete rebuilding is not a tenant's responsibility! The have promised TfL it will be finished "in time" - as was reported to the TfL board last month:

Quote

4.21 In the West, Network Rail continues to progress the rebuilding works covering the area out to Hayes and Harlington and is planning to complete the upgrade and rebuilding of stations in the West by December 2019.

Right.......so the list of questions above would be better directed to NR than TfL?

Right.......so the list of questions above would be better directed to NR than TfL?

Agreed.

Now ... if I were writing to an organisation that had taken over running a facility less that ten weeks previous, I would be adopting a friendly helpful approach with a view to working with them. Helping them understand the issues they had inherited. Learning in turn what were their key motivators and goals. Seeing what could be grown and evolved towards mutual goals.

And indeed if their supplier (and the supper to the previous operator) had let both operators down badly - what better way to move forward than to stand alongside a willing new operator and ask the questions with them. But alas, were I that new operator being bashed very early on before I had time to do anything, I would quickly move away from any sympathy with my customer and perhaps stand alongside my supplier as we raised a shield of defence rather than concentrating on resolving issues and getting the thing sorted.

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Coffee Shop Admin, Member of Melksham Rail User Group, on the board of TravelWatch SouthWest and some more things besides

The station is owned by Network Rail - as they all are. It is managed by MTR Crossrail, under a lease taken on by TfL last December. The work being done there (or most of it anyway) is being done by NR for Crossrail (itself working for TfL). So I suspect it makes no difference who receives a letter, it'll be passed buckwise anyway.

As to the letter, no, it doesn't look like it follows the principles of "how to make friends and influence people" - more like "letter-writing as part of an anger management programme".

All day today - Thursday April 12 - Hayes & Harlington Station has been without power.

* No staff on duty* No ticket machines working* No tickets for sale - the ticket office is shut* No announcements* No customer information systems* No lights* No Oyster touch in / out* No way to report emergencies / incidents / etc.

And - par for the course - no Transport for London staff to report the above.

And for years there has been:

* No toilets (they've been closed for a year)* No proper entrance / exit(s)* No pick ups / drop offs allowed without a heavy fine* No turning circle for cars / cabs* No black cabs (the station has been 'blacked')

Is this the brave new TfL / CrossRail / MTR management style that we are to expect from now on?

* Some lighting had been restored but not the exit from platform 4 into Station Parade - a major hi-risk area for women frequented by beggars and drug dealers.* Only a few Oyster machines were working - those with unresolved journeys would have been charged a penalty fare. * No ticket machines were working.* The ticket office was shut.* No customer service systems were working.* No staff were visible.

TfL new style management at its very best. GHU [God help us] - bring back GWR or better BR.

* Some lighting had been restored but not the exit from platform 4 into Station Parade - a major hi-risk area for women frequented by beggars and drug dealers.* Only a few Oyster machines were working - those with unresolved journeys would have been charged a penalty fare. * No ticket machines were working.* The ticket office was shut.* No customer service systems were working.* No staff were visible.

TfL new style management at its very best. GHU [God help us] - bring back GWR or better BR.

The upgrade of the existing rail network for the Elizabeth line, being undertaken by Network Rail, continues. Following the successful Christmas works, Driver CCTV installation testing is under way on the inner west route in advance of Stage 2 services in May 2018 between Paddington and Heathrow, and detailed design work has now been completed for the station upgrade programme due to be completed by December 2019.

Of course they are not running the trains and, understandably, looking after passengers of GWR's trains doesn't fit into any of their usual activities. But that's not an excuse - they needed to create a new activity to manage and report on this.

* Some lighting had been restored but not the exit from platform 4 into Station Parade - a major hi-risk area for women frequented by beggars and drug dealers.

I see Hayes hasn't changed much. The bus stop by the bridge exit wasn't and isn't much fun to wait at when I occasionally pass through.

This is where drug dealers, ticket touts and beggars ply their trade. The ground is covered in white splodges of gum. Red stains dribble into the gutter from gobbing chewed kava. There have been stabbings there. Even the station name sign has been removed. And stroppy bus drivers often pass by especially if there are other buses blocking the stop. It been like this for years.

It'll be interesting to see how the new station building and footbridge changes the ambience of a far from welcoming station. I see it looks like foundations for the new footbridge are being installed on the up main platform?

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To view my cab run over the new Reading Viaduct as well as a relief line cab ride at Reading just after Platforms 12-15 opened and my 'before and after' video comparison of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/1

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